I graduated from Bradley University in 1993 and during my 4 1/2 years we never had a winning basketball program. (Hersey Hawkins had graduated right before I arrived. D'oh!) However, that didn't stop my professor, Dr. James Goodnow, and me from attending a lot of the basketball games at the Peoria Civic Center or watching the team practice at the field house. I was there during the Jim Molinari years, and though the team didn't fare well, they were winners to us! To see Bradley Red and White in the...

The Sports Xchange Bradley 55, Loyola-Chicago 38 Guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points as the Bradley Braves broke a three-game losing streak with a 55-38 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Saturday at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill. The Braves (12-17, 7-9) completed a season sweep as forward Auston Barnes scored seven straight points to open the second half on the way to a 26-17 edge. Bradley pushed the lead to double digits at 31-20 by the...

FIRE Crew 2, Fire 1 Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven led Columbus to its first MLS Cup appearance, scoring second-half goals in the Crew's 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Thursday night in the Eastern Conference final. Brian McBride, who played eight seasons for the Crew before leaving for the English Premier League in 2003, scored for the Fire in his first MLS game as a visiting player in Crew Stadium. BULLS The injury-depleted Bulls signed former Detroit Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter.

Guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points as the Bradley Braves broke a three-game losing streak with a 55-38 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Loyola- Chicago Ramblers on Saturday at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill. The Braves (12-17, 7-9) completed a season sweep as forward Auston Barnes scored seven straight points to open the second half on the way to a 26-17 edge. Bradley pushed the lead to double digits at 31-20 by the 14:08 mark and...

The Sports Xchange Bradley 55, Loyola-Chicago 38 Guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points as the Bradley Braves broke a three-game losing streak with a 55-38 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Saturday at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill. The Braves (12-17, 7-9) completed a season sweep as forward Auston Barnes scored seven straight points to open the second half on the way to a 26-17 edge. Bradley pushed the lead to double digits at 31-20 by the...

With the local spotlight firmly affixed on guys like Glenbrook North's Jon Scheyer, St. Joseph's Evan Turner and Crane's Sherron Collins in the winter of 2006-07, Sam Maniscalco quietly had quite a senior year for St. Patrick. Fast forward three years and raise the scale to the national level, and little has changed. Without the fanfare the All-America candidates at Duke, Ohio State and Kansas, respectively, are receiving,...

Guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points as the Bradley Braves broke a three-game losing streak with a 55-38 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Loyola- Chicago Ramblers on Saturday at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill. The Braves (12-17, 7-9) completed a season sweep as forward Auston Barnes scored seven straight points to open the second half on the way to a 26-17 edge. Bradley pushed the lead to double digits at 31-20 by the 14:08 mark and...

If there is a lesson for Bradley opponents to learn, it is to leave coach Jim Les' car alone. The Bradley coach attended his son's basketball game in Bloomington last week and an overzealous fan wrote "Go 'Birds" on his car. "My car was a little dirty, but I left [the writing] there," Les said, laughing. "I was glad [the players] were ready to play, because I was." The icy weather produced several massive crashes along Interstate Highway 74 on Tuesday...

James Hamilton, last week's Missouri Valley Conference player of the week after his 22-point performance against St. Louis, scored 22 points again Tuesday night to lead the hot-shooting Bradley Braves to a 79-64 victory over Chicago State. Bradley (2-0), which never trailed, went up by as many as 20 points-65-45-in the second half by hitting 15 of 17 (88.2 percent) from the field in the second period, a Carver Arena record. The Braves were 31 for 43 overall (72...

FIRE Crew 2, Fire 1 Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven led Columbus to its first MLS Cup appearance, scoring second-half goals in the Crew's 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Thursday night in the Eastern Conference final. Brian McBride, who played eight seasons for the Crew before leaving for the English Premier League in 2003, scored for the Fire in his first MLS game as a visiting player in Crew Stadium. BULLS The injury-depleted Bulls signed former Detroit Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter.

Dick Versace was a proud coach after watching his Bradley Braves edge Tulsa 54-51 Saturday. "It's a privilege to coach this incredibly talented team," Versace said. "We have a great bunch of kids. They are unselfish, and they play hard." Leading the Braves (22-1, 9-0) was center Mike Williams, who had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He was 8 of 10 from the field. "Mike had the best game of his career," Versace said. "He scored, he rebounded, he clogged the middle, he blocked...

I graduated from Bradley University in 1993 and during my 4 1/2 years we never had a winning basketball program. (Hersey Hawkins had graduated right before I arrived. D'oh!) However, that didn't stop my professor, Dr. James Goodnow, and me from attending a lot of the basketball games at the Peoria Civic Center or watching the team practice at the field house. I was there during the Jim Molinari years, and though the team didn't fare well, they were winners to us! To see Bradley Red and White in the...

The two coaches and friends exchanged pleasantries before Saturday's Class AA semifinal game. "You look like a banana," New Trier's Rick Malnati said to Westinghouse's Chris Head. "You're still my man," was the response from Head, attired in a pale-yellow suit. Head brought up his buddy's name again after Westinghouse systematically dispatched New Trier 63-46 and advanced to the state championship game for the second time in three years. Coaching on the home floor of the...

The two coaches and friends exchanged pleasantries before Saturday's Class AA semifinal game. "You look like a banana," New Trier's Rick Malnati said to Westinghouse's Chris Head. "You're still my man," was the response from Head, attired in a pale-yellow suit. Head brought up his buddy's name again after Westinghouse systematically dispatched New Trier 63-46 and advanced to the state championship game for the second time in three years. Coaching on the home floor of the...

There's a tradition here at Carver Arena that, at the start of every half, the home crowd "helps the Bradley Braves on defense" by standing up until the visitors score. They didn't have to stand very long Tuesday night. DePaul's Bryant Bowden hit a basket only 28 seconds into the game. And Bowden scored after 24 seconds of the second half. For most of the remaining 39 minutes 8 seconds, however, the crowd of 9,056 was leaping to its feet on its own accord, cheering the Braves' 22nd straight...

It wasn't the best of weeks for Southern Illinois guard Brandon Mells. Coach Bruce Weber was hard on him in practice, telling the sophomore he simply had to be better. Weber never imagined how much better Mells would be. With NCAA tournament hopes hinging on every game, Mells tied a Missouri Valley Conference tournament record with eight three-point field goals and a game-high and season-high 24 points Saturday to carry third-seeded SIU past Evansville 75-63 at the Kiel Center.

It wasn't the best of weeks for Southern Illinois guard Brandon Mells. Coach Bruce Weber was hard on him in practice, telling the sophomore he simply had to be better. Weber never imagined how much better Mells would be. With NCAA tournament hopes hinging on every game, Mells tied a Missouri Valley Conference tournament record with eight three-point field goals and a game-high and season-high 24 points Saturday to carry third-seeded SIU past Evansville 75-63 at the Kiel Center.

A season of disappointments and almosts ended just that way Saturday for the Bradley Braves in a 71-62 loss to Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at the Kiel Center. The defeat was the end of a season in which Bradley was a preseason pick to win the MVC but struggled with a tough early schedule and on the road in conference. The Braves won only once away from Peoria. Bradley had beaten conference champion Indiana State and all of the top MVC finishers but fell short...

A season of disappointments and almosts ended just that way Saturday for the Bradley Braves in a 71-62 loss to Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at the Kiel Center. The defeat was the end of a season in which Bradley was a preseason pick to win the MVC but struggled with a tough early schedule and on the road in conference. The Braves won only once away from Peoria. Bradley had beaten conference champion Indiana State and all of the top MVC finishers but fell short...

Suddenly, their three-game "Big Ten" season isn't the Big Event it once was for the Bradley Braves. Suddenly, after getting off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1993-94 and limiting their opponents to an average of 49 points a game, the Braves (3-1) are sharing an emotional bus ride with apprehension. Suddenly, Saturday's showdown at the United Center with Illinois has lost some of its importance. The Braves' distress level has little to do with their...